06 Civic Build - UBL #1 - Performance and Audio

[scooter99]

Again, to me, it's a perfect fit! I love it! Trimmed off some of the edging. Didn't need to be that big.

Now then, the next order of business is going to be to make an MDF template of these, and if I can get my damn cuts straight with the jig saw, then we'll be good to go to get the router out, with my new 1 1/2" flush cut bit I bought at home depot the other night, and get this top plate finished once and for all! Need to cut it out, then decide if I want a 3/8" rounded edge or a 45 degree edge. I'll round off the current top plate and put some carbon fiber vinyl on it that I have laying around and post that up and see what you all think with them side by side. I like the idea of the 45 degree edge with the rounded corners of the amp, I think it will flow very well. However, the rounded edges I think would flow very well also. Maybe I'll bite the bullet and just make two top plates and do one rounded and one 45ed and see which I like better! More to come this weekend. Thanks for tuning in!

[scooter99]

I got out for a couple hours tonight. Not much, but, I'm happy with the progress. Here are some pics. First, so that everyone could see the differences, I took the 3/8" roundover bit and did the second opening to see a side by side.

Covered it to see the full effect. I will most likely be doing the cfv in grey or silver, but this will give you the overall look of the difference between the two.

What it looks like with the amps in place.

Little different view. It was dark so I had a shop lite on and there was some reflection, so I took these the opposite direction.

Now it's time to get the template cut. Took the old panel and then put a piece of 1/2" mdf on top. Got my new flush bit out and got to work!

Test fit to see how they sit over the amps. I'm EXTREMELY happy with this. Again, the cuts aren't 100% straight but much better than the last one I did. I guess I can always sand them down a bit and get it straighter. But it's ok I'll deal with that if I need to.

Now to cut the final panel.

[scooter99]

Oh ya! Much better!

Then I looked and looked and I decided I liked the 45 angle better, so that's what I decided on for the finish.

Not the best picture, but I think it looks great right now.

These are the pieces I cut out from the last panel, and I'm going to use them for the risers for the amps. This will get them off the panel for air flow, as well as bring them higher for looks.

[scooter99]

A little update: I decided after a long day of my daughters birthday party with a bunch of screaming 5 - 8 year olds, and then having to go out to my mother in laws to drop some stuff off for the finish of that job I've been working on, I needed some much needed Scooter Time! So I started the tablet build! This is going to do a couple of things. First it's going to switch my brain off the enclosure and refresh things a bit, and second it's going to actually get some portion of this build going. So I picked up some tape tonight, and got out some stuff and the tablet and got to work protecting it.

Took the cover off of it. It does have the screen protector on it, but it obviously needs more before putting anything else on it, i.e. tape, resin, etc.

Front

Back

Not much to describe, other than I put a few layers on. First layer: Glad Press and Seal. This should protect it from the tape any marks.

When all is said and done, the inside of the glass pan will have suede inside of it. This will do a couple of things. It'll help the tablet slide in and out easier, as well as, and more importantly, help to prevent scratches and marks on the tablet from sliding it in and out. So given that I need to account for the thickness of the suede, I decided to get out some scrap suede that I have, and just incorporate it into the protection layers so that in the end, the glass has been done with that thickness accounted for.

Did one for the front and back.

Then I started taping them on.

Next I got out the foil and wrapped a layer of it on.

And taped it up.

Now, it's time to glass!

Put down some parchment paper so I wouldn't have to fight getting it off the wood.

Cut a couple sheets of chop so that they were about an inch bigger than the tablet itself.

Then, I put the first layer on.

That's as far as I got tonight. It's pretty cold outside, so I'll leave it overnight and let it do it's thing. Tomorrow I'll get the second layer on and let it sit all day. That's about it for now. More hopefully tomorrow night!

[scooter99]

Got some more work done this morning! Pulled the tablet and uncovered it for now.

After further inspection I discovered some voids on the edges. Those needed to be filled. I wanted a solid edge. That way when I trim it out, I don't have any voids that need to be filled later.

So I made a little wall or dam of tape to fill the edges in.

Filled

Much better edges. Not 100% straight, but it'll get covered up with the face plate.

Tablet uncovered next to the pan. Still works, whew!

Time to get a couple more layers on, it's pretty flimsy with one. Couple layers of cloth should do the trick!

Layer #2 total, Layer #1 of Cloth.

Layer #3 total, Layer #2 of Cloth.

One little issue point, but it'll get cut off in the end cause it's on the outside. But here you can see the two layers of cloth.

So that's pretty much it for the back of the pan. I think after this it should be plenty strong enough. Next step is going to be positioning it on the dash piece, and then getting it cut out. Then getting it into the actual dash and making sure it fits or making adjustments so I can get the face panel done and start the molding process. Stay tuned, MORE to come!

Couple of pics with the tablet in it. It is a little big, however, with the suede and some a little work, it'll be fine.

Suede in

Tablet in.

That's probably going to be about it for the weekend. I'm gonna go out and hang lights with my daughters now. More to come soon! Stay tuned!

[scooter99]

Now we're caught up. This is the begining of Version 2. Here is where I start getting the new amps etc. I've since decided to redo the tablet pan, and some other things. That'll all be coming. Let's get on with it.

Well I might still wrap em, but for now, here's some pics of the new beauties. A little love from my supplier! Thanks!

Oh isn't that a beautiful sight!

Hertz HDP4:

Just how big is it? Well here's a little comparison to a dollar bill, all I had on me!

Little end shot action:

Crossover shot!

Next up is the Hertz HDP5:

Again, size comparison, aka money shot! LOL had to!

Little love for the ends!

Crossover:

Man I cannot wait to get these things fitted! More to come later. Waiting for Steve to get back to his shop to pick up the DD-1! Oh how it's been a great Christmas already! And it's still two days away! WOOOHOOO!!!

[scooter99]

Ok, so I went over and met Steve and got my DD-1 baby! Woohoo!! He gave me a hat too! To make up for the price diff for shipping vs picking it up. Hell of a guy!

Oh ya! Signature in the hat!

And on the DD-1!

Ok so here's the set up! I got this going on per the drawings! First up, Bit One

Then The HDP4's

Now then, with that layout, it's a little close on the edges and to the bit one, but I can widen it a bit also, and it will provide more room.

Here's Version 2

Same thing, little tight on the ends of the amp, but the front piece that's straight can get taken out and a new piece can be put in so it's curved like the front. That would buy me 2 more inches at least.

Here's Version 3

Now with this one, the Bit One goes out of the drawer obviously, and I'm thinking counter sunk in the floor, or up in the trunk lid! Thoughts! Let me hear em!

[scooter99]

Ok guys, here we go. Didn't get multiple things done today, but I got one thing done and ready to go. I did the ported enclosure for the rear facing sub. This measures about 20" wide, 14.5" tall, and it's a wedge box so the top is 14" deep and the bottom 19" deep. Comes out to about, and I don't have the Torres printout in front of me, but it ends up at about 1.23 cu ft (I think) and tuned at 35hz.

So let's get onto the pics, shall we!

Some tools, the torres printout, and my new phone. Gotta keep up with the forums while I'm working! LOL

MDF,

Rigid Saw, and Porter Cable Router

Also picked up a new toy today. Nothing special, but I got a rip fence. This will help with some stuff for sure. I usually use a level, but I thought why not get one of these, since it's what it's made for.

Had to make sure and get my angle right, before i start cutting anything.

For those of you who don't know how to do this, you take your angle finder and get the angle for whatever you're working with, like above. Take it to the material you need to cut on. Mark the line like so:

Take a speed square, I prefer the larger one cause you get more area to work with and make sure the line is correct. The smaller one can sometimes get a little outta whack. Put the point on the line joint, where the line meets the edge of the material. Line it up on the line, and count down your lines on the numbered side where it meets the square edge.

In this case we've got 22 degrees angle.

Now go cut some wood! I spared the pictures of the cutting part! Just skipped straight to the pile!

Next I started screwing sh!t together! Weapons of choice!

That's me in case noone's seen me in a while or at all! LOL!

My 5 year old daughter decided she wanted to help me today. So I grabbed my little Rigid 12v drill, and she started going to town! She put the whole thing together, for the dry run! 5 years old folks! I know adults who can't operate a screw gun correctly! LOVED WATCHING HER DO THIS! MADE ME SO PROUD! Wait, teary moment! Sniffle! Ok I'm back!

Little blurry pic of her first screw!

So proud of her work! Daddy's so proud too!

Port anyone! 6" x 3.5" x 26"

Rounded off the square edges!

Time to glue and screw! I forgot the finished glue and screw pics of this first side! Oops!

[scooter99]

Pre drilled all holes!

Time to router out the port! Love me some router action!

Next I got out the little guy, with the pre home made circle jig on it. I'm gonna get a real one soon. Probably tomorrow. But for a test box, this will work just fine!

See, told ya! Also rounded over the port edges.

Man this thing fits like I can't even think of a word to put in here. It's sooooo tight! I had to push on it, not hard, but just a little pressure and it slipped right in...........................hmmmmm this could go very wrong very fast.......LMAO! Well whatever, perfect measurements FTMFW!!!!

Time to glue and screw! Predrilled the holes!

Glued!

And screwed!

Little peekaboo down the port!

Couple shots on the table!

Now time to fit er in! Now I know there are some fitting issues here, and I'm well aware of it. It's a test box and I wanted to leave it at that. I'll deal with them later on as I get the real box going. However, for testing I'm fine with this.

Now let me explain what I'm talking about by issues! Right now you're looking down the left side of the enclosure. The enclosure is pushed all the way back to the component wall. Now, as you can see the enclosure is about 2 3/4" away from the side wall there. In the upper corner of the enclosure you'll see or notice that the wall angles up and over. Well that's the issue. What needs to happen is a chunk of the corner of the enclosure needs to be cut out. I need to decide if I'm going to go back with wood to seal it up, or just glass the shat out of it and pour resin in it from the inside and firm it up. I think the latter would be best as it would take up less room that a 3/4" piece of wood.

Now why is that an issue you ask? Well the reason I cut out the center of the seats, was to create a pass through and allow sound to travel through to the cabin much easier and much more unimpeded. Well that 2 3/4" or close to 3" of gap allows the enclosure to take up more than half of the pass through. If I get that distance back, it will really open it up. As you can see here.

I can also put the enclosure on the passenger side, same issue there, and then the cut out angle will take up the enclosure portion instead of the ported portion. Either way it has to happen. Not sure if it matters or not, but it would also put the port in the center. I guess I could just build it the opposite way I did with this one and get the same effect on the driver side. I don't know if it matters or not. I think with what I'm planning to take up the space next to the enclosure, I may just go the enclosure on the passenger side. You'll see in due time!

Now it's got the wire in, and it's ready for testing!

I've got a buddy coming over tomorrow, since I have no equipment hooked up and ready, and he's going to hook his amp up and see what we've got! He's running a 600 watt amp, at a 2ohm load, tuned to about 80hz now on an Alpine Type R in a very similar enclosure! His sounds pretty damn nice! And to top it off, it's the same type of car! So why not right! I'm ready to go, just need some power, and he can supply that. I'll report back tomorrow! That's it for tonight! Tomorrow is a new day! I have to get back to work, at my job, now so I can not work tomorrow! When the boss says, from Hawaii by the way, "we just settled a multi million dollar case and I need you to draw up the paperwork I emailed you tonight", you kind of have to jump on it! So here I am! Goodnight all! Till tomorrow!

Ok, we're officially caught up with this UBL! More to come this week!

To comment please go to "My Current Build" in my signature, which will take you to my build thread! Thanks for watching!

[scooter99]

Ok another day in the books. Not nearly as much done as I thought I'd get, but I'm pretty pleased with the progress. I can see things coming together.

First up I started Version 2 of the tablet pan. The more and more I look at this and think about it, the more and more complex it seems. But I'm gonna keep working at it. Here we go.

If you will recall, I was going to use the docking station for this. After taping it up, and looking at it I decided not to do it that way. I decided I would just use the base part of it, and cut it in later. Thankfully I decided this after tape and not after glass or there'd be a version 3.

Time for glass! ALl my materials, including my coffee! Let's go for it.

Got some wax on it this time to help with the separation after drying.

Then I started the glassing process!

2 layers!